S Korea 'regrets' Olympics opening ceremony gaffe

The delegation was introduced as the North Korean team

SEOUL:

South Korea’s sports ministry on Saturday expressed regret over a gaffe during the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics in which its athletes were incorrectly introduced as North Korean.

As the South Korean delegation rode a boat on the Seine River and entered the ceremony as the 48th participating nation, the French-speaking presenter introduced them using the official name for North Korea: “Republique populaire democratique de Coree” in French, then “Democratic People’s Republic of Korea” in English.

The error sparked displeased reactions in South Korea, a global cultural and technological powerhouse that is technically still at war with the nuclear-armed and impoverished North, as the 1950-1953 conflict ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty.

South Korea’s sports ministry “expresses regret over the announcement during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics, where the South Korean delegation was introduced as the North Korean team,” it said in a statement.

Second vice sports minister Jang Mi-ran, a 2008 Olympic weightlifting champion, has asked for a meeting with International Olympic Committee (IOC) chief Thomas Bach to discuss the matter, it added.

The sports ministry has also asked the foreign ministry to “deliver a strong protest to the French side” over the issue, it said.

South Korea’s National Olympic Committee plans to meet with the Paris Olympics Organising Committee and the IOC to voice their protest, request measures to prevent a recurrence, and send an official letter of protest under the name of the head of its delegation, the sports ministry said.

During the Olympic opening ceremony in Paris, North Korea, which joined the ceremony as the 153rd nation, was correctly introduced with the country’s official name.

Relations between the two Koreas are at one of their lowest points in years, with the North bolstering military ties with Russia while sending thousands of trash-carrying balloons to the South.

In response, Seoul’s military blasts K-pop and anti-regime messages from border loudspeakers and recently resumed live-fire drills on border islands and near the demilitarised zone that divides the Korean peninsula.